Acoustical inverted t beam hanger



J y 1968 H. s VAN BUREN, JR 3,

ACOUSTICAL INVERTED T BEAM HANGER Filed June 10, 1966 'r a I I y 5% a? Iawenio'r. 2? Harold S. van BurenJac, 0

Hi3 vaaaataaaa y- United States Patent 3,390,856 ACOUSTICAL INVERTED T BEAM HANGER Harold S. Van Buren, Jr., Cambridge, Mass., assignor to United-Carr Incorporated, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 10, 1966, Ser. No. 556,652 Claims. (Cl. 248-317) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A one-piece, sheet metal hanger has a plurality of legs disposed in co-operating, snap acting pairs for engaging a beading on a beam. Oppositely extending fins on the ends of each co-operating pair of legs provide opposed facing surfaces for guiding the legs over the beading.

The present invention relates generally to sheet metal hangers for use in building construction and more partic: ularly to a hanger for use with acoustical, inverted, T- shaped beams which in turn support blocked ceiling tiles.

With the advent of the widespread use of blocked ceiling tile in place of lathing and plaster, particularly in high-rise commercial and residential buildings, there has arisen a definite need for improved fasteners and connectors to suspend lathers channeling and acoustical, inverted T beams from a superstructure. In the past this has been accomplished by using wire stringers which hung from a heavy construction beam or some other element of the superstructure and were looped through the T beams at various intervals and wrapped or twisted to complete the attachment. This time-consuming stringing and twisting of multiple wire hangers invariably resulted in substantially increased labor costs attendant to this phase of building construction. More recently, various types of sheet metal clips, hangers and rods have to some extent replaced the wire stringers. While these later used devices definitely represent an improvement, many of the clips and hangers embody bolts or set screws which must be turned against a beam to complete the attachment and many others have been used only as a means to which the formerly mentioned wire stringers could be attached in lieu of looping the wire directly through the inverted T beams.

The present invention is therefore seen to represent a substantial improvement over the prior art devices mentioned above in that it can be rapidly snapped onto on acoustical T beam, it is readily adapted to be attached to another component of a beam supporting linkage and it may alternatively be used to attach other parts such as electrical junction boxes and conduit to the acoustical T beams.

A preferred embodiment of a hanger according to the invention includes a base and a plurality of snap acting legs extending generally perpendicularly from the base. The legs are disposed in co-operating, snap acting pairs and each pair is separated by a longitudinal slot having an enlarged bead receiving portion intermediate the ends of the legs. Each leg has a fin adjacent its free end and the fins on each co-operating pair extend in opposite directions with one fin extending towards the other pair of legs. The fins on each pair of legs, therefore, provide opposed, inclined facing surfaces for guiding the legs over the beading on a beam.

Thus an object of the invention is to provide a rapidly installed and highly efficient acoustical T beam hanger.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hanger which securely engages a T beam and may be moved along the length of the beam after it is attached to allow for proper alignment of the hanger and a supporting linkage.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a T beam engaging clamp which alternatively may be used to attach other parts used in building construction to an acoustical T beam.

Additional objects and advantages of the novel hanger will become evident from a reading of the following detailed description, in conjunction with a viewing of the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are respectively a top-plan view, end view and bottom plan view of the hanger;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of an installation depicting the hanger engaging the beaded edge of an acoustical T beam (the beam being partially broken away) and secured to a clip which in turn engages the lower flange of a supporting lathers channel (only a portion of the channel being shown in section); and

FIG. -6 is an end view of the installation shown in FIG. 5 with the entire inverted T beam shown in section.

The hanger 1 is a stamping of springy, sheet metal and includes a base portion 2 of generally trapezoidal shape having an opening 3 formed therein and the well-known form of a single thread impression formed adjacent the opening, and a plurality of resilient legs 4 extending generally normally from the opposed, inclined edges of the base 2. The legs 4 are disposed in beam engaging pairs which are separated over the major portion of their length by an elongated slot having a laterally enlarged, bead receiving portion 5 of generally oblong shape intermediate the ends of the legs and a narrower portion 6 opening off the enlarged portion between the ends of the legs adjacent the base 2. While the hanger would in all likelihood function properly were the narrower portion of the slot eliminated, its presence does serve to impart increased flexibility to the legs, that is, they can be forced apart to a greater extent than would otherwise be possible. The upper portion of each of the legs is generally flat and the outside edges 7 of each pair are generally parallel. Conversely, the outside edge 8 of the free end of each leg of a pair is angularly toed in toward the other leg and the inner portion of each leg at its free end has an angularly disposed fin 9 bent therefrom and extending laterally in the opposite direction from the fin on the other leg of the pair. Thus, the fins 9 on each pair of legs present opposed, inclined facing surfaces 16 which will serve to guide the legs over the 0pposite sides of the bead on an inverted T beam and channel the bead onto the enlarged portion 5 of the slot. In addition, the intersection of the lower edge of the slot portion 5 and the upper edge of each fin 9 forms a pair of opposed hook-like prongs 11 which will grip the underside of a bead on the T beam when the hanger is snapped over same.

FIGS. 5 and 6 depict a typical installation wherein the hanger is employed to support an acoustical T beam 12 from the lower flange of a cross beam 13 (usually of C shape and generally referred to as a lathers channel) wherein the lathers channel is suspended from the superstructure of a building. The hanger 1 is bolted to a connecting clip 14 which in turn is snapped onto the lower flange of the lathers channel 13. In actuality, there would, of course, be several of the cross beams throughout the ceiling area at selectively spaced intervals and as many clips and hangers as are deemed necessary would be secured thereto to receive the tile supporting inverted T beams which run at right angles to the lathers channel and are spaced a distance approximately equal to the width of the blocked tile to be laid across the lower flanges thereof. Each of the T beams has a generally circular bead 15 running along its upper edge and the final attachment is rapidly accomplished by forcing the bead between the co-operating leg pairs until it snaps into the B slot portion 5. Thereafter, the opposed, hook-like prongs 11 of each pair of legs grip the undersurface of the bead 15 to securely retain the T beam.

Since the hanger 1 may be moved axially along the bead 15 when secured thereto, the final assembly may alternatively be carried out by attaching multiple hangers with clips 14 bolted thereto to the T beam and thereafter sliding each hanger and clip combination into the appropriate position for snapping the clips onto spaced adjacent lathers channels.

As previously mentioned, electrical junction boxes may be bolted to additional hangers which can be moved laterally between adjacent lathers channels for proper positioning of the boxes, and still further hangers having tubing, wiring or conduit clamps bolted thereto may be positioned to support other structural elements running above the blocked ceiling. Thus the reader will appreciate that the novel hanger which functions as a highly efficient inverted T beam supporter has many other useful applications in building construction.

It is therefore to be clearly understood that the foregoing description and illustrations are not to be interpreted in a limiting sense in that the scope of the invention is best defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A hanger adapted for snap engagement with a flanged beam having a bead at the edge thereof opposite the flange, comprising a base portion having means for engaging a co-operating fastener member and a plurality of snap acting legs projecting generally normally from said base portion, said legs being disposed in spaced, bead engaging, co-operating pairs, the legs forming each pair being separated over at least a portion of the length thereof by a longitudinal slot, said slot including a laterally enlarged bead receiving portion intermediate the ends of said legs, each of said legs having an angularly disposed fin adjacent the end thereof remote from said base portion,

the fins on each pair of legs extending laterally in opposite directions with one fin extending toward the other pair of legs, the fins on each pair of legs presenting opposed, inclined facing surfaces adapted to guide said legs over the bead when the hanger is snapped onto the beam.

2. A hanger according to claim 1 wherein said enlarged portion of said enlongated slot opens into a narrower portion separating the ends of each pair of legs adjacent said base portion to provide increased flexibility in said legs.

3. A hanger according to claim 1 wherein said base portion is generally trapezoidal in shape and said legs project from the inclined edges of said base.

4. A hanger according to claim 1 wherein said means for engaging a co-operating fastener member includes a single bolt engaging thread impression defining a bolt receiving opening in said base portion.

5. A hanger according to claim 1 wherein the intersection of the internal edges of each leg of a pair defining the enlarged portion of said slot and the ends of the fins projecting from said leg least remote from said base por tion form a pair of opposed hook like prongs adapted to engage the undersurface of the bead.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 540,693 6/1895 Seely 52-489 2,485,090 10/1949 Finch 248-228 XR 2,839,671 6/1958 Cullen 248-317 3,131,447 5/1964 Tinnerman 248-228 XR 3,253,308 5/1966 Jost 248-56 XR 3,329,387 7/1967 Fischer 52-495 XR ROY D. PRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

R. P. SEITTER, Assistant Examiner. 

